Wenman Wykeham-Musgrave

Wenman "Kit" Wykeham-Musgrave (1899–1989) was a Royal Navy officer who has the possibly unique distinction of having survived being torpedoed on three different ships on the same day.[1][2] He was born on 4 April 1899 at Barford, Warwick, Warwickshire, England, and was educated at Royal Naval College, Osborne, Isle of Wight, England, and at Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth, Devon, England.[3]

He was serving as a midshipman aboard HMS Aboukir when, on the morning of the 22 September 1914, HMS Aboukir, HMS Hogue and HMS Cressy, three pre-Dreadnought cruisers,[4][5] were on patrol in the Broad Fourteens off the Dutch coast. They were attacked by the German U-Boat U-9, which was under the command of Kapitänleutnant Otto Weddigen. Wykeham-Musgrave's daughter, Pru Bailey-Hamilton, recounted the tale of his torpedoing during a BBC interview in 2003:[6] "He went overboard when the Aboukir was going down and he swam like mad to get away from the suction. He was then just getting on board the Hogue and she was torpedoed. He then went and swam to the Cressy and she was also torpedoed. He eventually found a bit of driftwood, became unconscious and was eventually picked up by a Dutch trawler."

The U-Boat torpedoed all three ships within the space of an hour. Wykeham-Musgrave survived the war and re-joined the Royal Navy in 1939, reaching the rank of commander.[3]

References

  1. ↑ Brown, Malcolm, (1993).The Imperial War Museum Book of the First World War: A Great Conflict Recalled in Previously Unpublished Letters, Diaries, Documents and Memoirs. Univ. of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0-8061-2525-X
  2. ↑ Roark, Ryan (2007-06-14). "Now THAT Is What I Call A Will To Live!". Food for Thought. Retrieved 2010-03-19.
  3. 1 2 "Commander Wenman Humfrey Wykeham-Musgrave". Retrieved 2010-03-19.
  4. ↑ Massie, Robert (2005). Castles of Steel: Britain, Germany and the Winning of the Great War at Sea. London: Pimlico. ISBN 1-84413-411-3.
  5. ↑ Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: the complete record of all fighting ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8. OCLC 67375475.
  6. ↑ "BBC Inside Out – Yorkshire dive". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 19 March 2010.
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